Page 11 of Overdosed: Her Dark Side
“I’ve always known Anders was jealous of you, the twisted bastard. I could see it in the way he looked at you, but this…” Kenneth went on, but all I could hear was her sweet laughter. The memories of her smile, her smell, and her touch haunted me like ghosts.
“I’d always had an inkling that monogamy doesn’t work.” He snarled. “Come on, Shane. Why focus on one woman when you can have fun with a different one each night? Stop with that good-boy attitude. It doesn’t suit you.” He patted my back. “Just look at those sexy kittens and forget about her. Let’s bring the old Shane back. All these hot women missed him.”
My fingers tightened around the glass as if trying to crush the pain. I finished the drink in one go. My gaze was stuck on the empty bottom. Fuck. I couldn’t escape the truth. I still loved her. No amount of whiskey could make me forget. No amount of whiskey could heal the scars she left behind. I should’ve known better. I should’ve remembered that love was a luxury a man like me couldn’t afford. Now I paid the price.
I pushed the empty glass away. The numbness from alcohol was a temporary relief. My eyes wandered around the club, through the haze of smoke of cigars.
There she was. My next prey for tonight. Paige. An old fling that flickered back in the university days. I knew she had a crush on me, but back then, I wasn’t on the market. It was all about the chase. Like it was now.
She had noticed me too. Her gaze locked onto mine, and a seductive smile tugged her lips. Her medium-toned skin seemed to glow in the club’s dim lighting, accentuated by the goldish color of her tight strap dress, which hugged every curve of her body. After a moment of hesitation, she walked in my direction. She weaved through the crowd, her hips swayed, matching the sultry flicker in her gaze. She had a way of moving that drew attention. The kind of bold confidence that bordered on audacity.
“Shane. It’s been a while.” Her voice cut through the loud music thumping.
My head cocked. “Time flies.”
She chuckled softly, tucking her long, straight deep brown hair behind her ear. “You’re aging like a fine wine,” she purred like a cat. Her fingers traced down the lapel of my suit.
“Sadly, wine doesn’t erase the past.”
Her eyes narrowed at me for a brief moment. It seemed like she was trying to read my face, inch by inch. “Oh, looks like someone needs a distraction.” She nibbled her lip, her blue eyes flickering between mine.
Damn right. I need a distraction.
I was a wreck. I needed an escape from the heartache that kept consuming me. Even if just temporary. I let myself swim in the lust flooding her eyes. My gaze dropped down to her lips, painted a deep shade of red. I couldn’t resist the temporary respite she could give me. Her seductive smile and eyes full of desire were my temporary fix. In this world, nothing was permanent anyway.
“Let’s see if I can help you erase the past.” Her lips brushed against my ear.
“Very well.” My hand landed on her butt, and she gasped.
I led her to my car. The very same in which, just a few hours prior, my brother fucked the woman I loved.
SIX
Melanie
Mommy?” Hope’s sleepy voice rang in my ears as I carefully laid her to bed.
“I’m here, my precious angel,” I whispered. I held her tightly, shielding her from the world outside. I kept hugging her, gently caressing her hair and inhaling her scent. It felt like my only soothing remedy. Until she drifted into dreams. Then, I gently tucked her in and tiptoed out of the room, still lost in my thoughts.
“Are you okay, dear?”
I turned to see Betty; her gentle eyes were fixed on me. Concern crossed her face. I took a moment to collect myself. “Yeah, I’m just lost in my own head.”
Betty nodded, offering me a faint smile. I knew she read through the words I left unsaid and chose to give me the space I needed, which I was grateful for. She’d been with me since Hope was born back in Malta, and she was the only person I trusted to take care of her. Hope had gotten extremely attached to her, treating her like a grandma she’d never had. And that she probably would never have had. Of course, that thought hurt me, but after everything I’d been through with my parents, I wasn’t sure I wanted them around my daughter. Not that they’d care anyway.
My father had never cared about me, never loved me, never seen me as his daughter. I’d always been just a pawn in his games for success, wicked ambitions, and desire for power, to the extent that he was even ready to sacrifice my life so that his impeccable reputation would remain intact. My mother, in turn, had never protected me from him. She would watch him hurt his own daughter and do nothing about it. I’d often wondered whether she didn’t dare stand up to him, whether he manipulated her so that she unquestioningly agreed to all his wrongdoings, or whether she didn’t care about me either. After I started my relationship with Shane, their arch-nemesis, they disinherited me, and I had no intention of seeking contact with them. Not that they deserved it. I was better off of them. My daughter was better off of them.
“I’ll keep an eye on Hope, you go rest. You need it.” Betty’s soft voice brought me back to reality. She reassuringly squeezed my arm, her smile softened.
With a grateful nod, I headed towards my room. I knew that my daughter was safe and taken care of with Betty by her side. Betty was like an angel. A guardian angel for my daughter when I couldn’t be.
I changed into a shirt. Shane’s shirt. The same one that I wore that fateful night when I left three years ago. I had no idea why I kept it. Perhaps, because it was a reminder of the memories of a time when I was the happiest. Three years had passed, yet I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away like I should. What an irony. I hated him, despised every fiber of his being, and yet, there I was, wrapped in a piece reminding me of him. I was one big, twisted walking contradiction. I hated him, yet I longed for him… his scent, his warm embrace, his presence.
What a mess my life had become… What was I doing?
At first, I wanted to teach Shane a lesson. Show him how it would feel if I had overdosed. After all, that was what he initially wanted. He approached me with a wicked plan of revenge. He saw me merely as a task to be done. I was fueled with pain, this kind of excruciating pain that tore a soul apart from within. I wanted to make him feel the emptiness after I was gone. Let him suffer. Face the consequences of his choices. But then… I wanted to return to him and tell him that I was expecting a child. His child. But everything changed when Callan confessed things about Shane that I never knew… It shattered everything I believed was true. After that, I knew I had to protect my daughter from… her own father. I had to stay away and make sure he would never find out about her existence. He didn’t deserve to know. Not after I found out what he’d do if he knew.
Ever since then, I’d lived my life in constant fear. Fear that he would find us and destroy the life I had created for my little one. I guess I did it to myself. I knew damn well what kind of a man Shane was when I got involved with him. I had willingly associated myself with my enemy, and now I had to bear the consequences. The thing was, I’d always known Shane was ruthless, but I didn’t believe he was twisted, and that was my mistake.
